The Meaning of Christmas
by SonicXfan1
Summary: Sonic and the gang realize what the true meaning of Christmas is when their original plans are ruined. Knux&rouge. My first story so please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**The Meaning of Christmas**

**Chapter 1**

Snow flakes fell gently to the ground; on Angel Island, Knuckles sat at the shrine where the Master Emerald lay. It was the week of Christmas, and he had received an invitation to Amy's Christmas party at the park. He heard something in the trees and turned to look just as the bat flew over and sat next to him.

"Why, hello there Knuckie; so you got an invitation to Amy's party too?"

"Yea, but I'm not sure if I should go."

"Well, why not? It could be fun, and I really want you to go. Besides, I'M going."

Knuckles looked at Rouge with a confused expression. Why was she acting like this? The only time they had ever really talked was when they shot insults at each other. The two had always been rivals, but Rouge actually sounded sincere in wanting Knuckles to go.

"Why do you care anyway?"

Rouge bat her eyelashes at him and scooted a bit closer. Knuckles became uncomfortable and scooted away a bit more, only to have her scoot in even farther. What was going on? Rouge now stared at him, and something in her eyes made him lose his breath altogether. He never noticed how deep they were or how pretty.

"Do you know why I want you to go Knuckie?"

"N-no, I don't." He could barely get a word out. He was now pressed against the shrine with Rouge's face just inches away from his.

"Do you want to know?"

"Uh, okay." He gulped; she was so close he could smell her perfume. It caused his stomach to flutter with anticipation.

Suddenly, she pulled away and gave him a smile. He blinked in confusion and looked at Rouge's smug grin.

"You had wanted me to kiss you, didn't you Knuckles?"

Knuckles' face blushed scarlet as he realized the situation.

"No, I didn't! You just caught me off guard is all!"

"Sure, Knuckie, whatever you say."

"I MEAN IT!!"

"Calm down big boy; I was only teasing. But I do want you to go."

"Oh? And why is that?" said Knuckles, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he glared at Rouge.

"Because," at this she whispered in his ear, "I have a surprise for you, but you have to go to the party to find out."

After this statement, she spread her wings and took off, leaving the red echidna even more confused then he was before. _Even for a bat she's batty. _Knuckles thought. He stared down at the invitation._ Maybe I should go, just for curiosity's sake._ With that settled, he returned to guarding the Master Emerald; but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the intense feeling in his chest he had when Rouge had only been inches away from his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

In the meantime, Amy had been busy passing out invitations to all of her friends. She mentally checked her list: she had already given an invitation to Tails; Knuckles; Rouge; Cream and her mother, Vanilla; Shadow; Espio, Vector, and Charmy. The only person she hadn't given it to was the one who she wanted there the most, Sonic. She knew he was probably running around somewhere exploring. As if by fate, Sonic raced by, launching snow everywhere.

"SONIC!"

Sonic stopped at hearing his name, and turned to see Amy shaking snow off of her body. She was wearing a pink jacket and matching pants, along with her usual boots, and pink earmuffs.

"Yo, Amy, what's up?"

"Sonic I'm inviting you to my Christmas party at the park." She replied handing him an invitation.

"A Christmas party? Cool, I'll be there."

"Really!?" said Amy; she squealed in delight, " Great, Sonic, I'll see you there, and don't forget to bring me a gift!!"

_Flash to Tail's Workshop_

Tails had been writing a list of gifts to get for his friends when he heard a knock at the door.

"Oh, hi Cream. What are you doing here?"

"I came to offer you some Christmas cookies." said the sweet little voice. Tails' had always had a soft spot for the rabbit, but he could never get enough courage to show his feelings.

"So would you like some?" Cream's words interrupted his thoughts.

"Of course!" said Tails, blushing slightly, "They look delicious, Cream, did you make them by any chance?"

Cream blushed a slight pink, which made her face look so innocent and rosy. "Yes, I did. Do you like them?"

"Lub dem." said Tails, his face covered with cookie crumbs.

Tails invited Cream inside and together talked about Amy's upcoming party as they shared the cookies.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

That whole week, everyone hurried to get ready for Amy's party. When all the gifts had been bought and wrapped and the clothes that had been chosen to wear were ready, everyone gathered at the park to help Amy decorate, for it was a tradition they did every year; and it was the most fun thing to do.

"Hey, Amy where do I put these?" said Vector, carrying a box of brightly colored ribbon.

"Go ahead and put it right there with the other decorations, Vector, we need to wait for everyone to get here before we start decorating." Amy replied.

Amy looked around at who was already here: Tails was working on the battery that would power the tree's lights, Cream was with Vanilla nearby watching, Espio and Charmy were arguing about something while Vector was yelling at them about arguing on the holidays, and Shadow was just leaning against the tree trunk, thinking about how Maria would have loved to be here helping decorate the tree, for this had been her favorite holiday of the year.

"Hey, does anyone know where I should put this?" Knuckles came walking up with the Christmas lights.

"Just put them over there, Knuckles. Oh, and have you seen Rouge? She was supposed to bring the ornaments."

At the mention of Rouge, Knuckles' face burned in a blush as he remembered what had occurred on Angel Island.

"Why would I know?" He barked back, a little harsher than he had intended, "I don't keep track of that crazy bat."

"No, but everyone can tell that you two like each other." Espio mumbled to himself.

"What was that, Espio!?" Knuckles turned and tightened his hands into fists.

"Oh, nothing ha-ha," Espio said nervously, he didn't want to have to fight the now infuriated echidna.

"That's what I thought."

"Hi-ya handsome; how have things been since last time?" a voice whispered in his ear.

Knuckles straightened and felt a shiver go up his spine as a blush rose to his already red face.

"H-hello Rouge." He replied, then sent a glare to the snickering chameleon. Even Shadow was trying to hide a grin but was failing miserably.

"Looks like the whole gang is here." Said Rouge.

"Yea, everyone except for the one who was supposed to bring the topper to the tree." said Espio.

"You mean Sonic's not here yet?" Knuckles said.

Soon, a wave of snow crashed onto him as Sonic finally showed up.

"Hey, everyone, sorry I'm late." The blue hedgehog said with a smirk as he saw what he had done to Knuckles.

"It's ok, Sonic, now that you're here we can start decorating." Amy replied.

Happily, everyone began to work on the tree. Tails began installing the battery as everyone was decorating. Rouge, Cream, and Charmy hung lights on the top where no one else could reach, while everyone else worked at the lower parts of the tree, hanging streamers and ornaments of previous years along with new ones obtained this year. Sonic and Shadow used their speed to hang up the lights by quickly running around the tree. In no time at all, everyone beamed at their work.

"It looks like it's missing something." Said Vector staring at the tree and rubbing his chin in thought.

"The topper!!" everyone shouted. They all turned towards Sonic.

"Don't worry everyone, it's over h-" At this Sonic turned only to find the topper gone.

"Wha-what happened to the topper? Okay, who took it?" said Sonic.

"No one took it, Sonic you probably forgot it." Knuckles replied.

"I did not forget it. I remember putting it right there next to the other decorations."

"He's telling the truth guys I saw him put it there myself." Said Tails.

"Then where could it possibly have gone?" Vanilla asked.

"Hey guys it's ok. We'll all just head to my house; I have some toppers there we could use for now." Amy said.

Satisfied, everyone followed Amy to her house.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Amy unlocked the door to her small house. It was a light tan color with a red roof, what used to be a garden layed in her front yard, and a mail box marked AMY ROSE was placed on the outside of the fence. When she stepped inside, Amy let out a scream.

"Amy! What's wrong?" Sonic asked. When he and everyone else entered the house they gasped at what they saw.

Everything was destroyed, or edleast everything that involved Christmas. The presents that Amy had spent so much time buying and wrapping were now broken and strewn all over. The toppers and other decorations she had placed in her home were thrown everywhere, shattered and torn. It literally looked like a Christmas-hating tornado had wrecked the house.

"WHO COULD HAVE DONE SUCH A THING!?!" Amy said, fire in her eyes.

"Alright boys, time to get to work on what we do best." Said Vector.

"Napping?" Charmy guessed.

"NO, solving mysteries!"

"Oh, yea." Charmy said sheepishly.

They immediately began searching the place, picking up destroyed presents and being careful not to step on any shattered glass. Everyone soon began searching too picking up anything that might be a clue.

"Oh, guys it's useless; whoever did this was really careful not to leave anything to get them caught."

"Nonsense, we'll find something I'm sure of it." Reassured Vanilla.

"Hey, I think I found something." Knuckles said pulling out a piece of orange hair with a disgusted face.

"Hmmm, let me see that." Vector said taking the hair from him.

"Nice find there, Knuckie." Said Rouge. Knuckles coughed nervously and shuffled his feet.

"ANYWAY, what do you make of it Vector?" Shadow asked. He was growing impatient.

"Well, who do we know that has orange hair?"

"There's only one person with hair like that." Said Sonic knowingly.

"Eggman." Everyone said in unision.

Just to make sure, Charmy flew over and smelled the piece of hair.

"EW, it smells like oil and moustache; this MUST be Eggman's facial hair." Charmy quickly pulled away, a disgusted look on his face.

"Oh, that Eggman, I'm going to beat his head in with my hammer!" Amy said angrily.

"Everyone, I just thought of something." Tails remarked. The gang turned to him with a quizzical look. "We all should go check our places because if Eggman destroyed all of Amy's Christmas stuff, then what would stop him from destroying ours?"

Everyone nodded and quickly headed to go check. Sure enough, everyone's things had been destroyed.

"What is Eggman's issue!?" yelled Amy, "Why can't he just leave us alone for the holidays?"

"Who knows, Amy, who knows." Replied Sonic.

"I mean, COME ON. Tomorrow's Christmas and we don't even have presents! What's Christmas without presents!" Amy continued.

"It's getting late guys we should all hit the hay." Said Tails.

Everyone agreed, for they were tired and more than a little disappointed at today's events.

"Hey Knuckles?" asked Rouge. She ran to catch up with the echidna.

"Yea?"

"Why do you think Eggman would do something like that?"

"I don't know Rouge."

"I think we should check it out, you know?"

"Um, I guess but what would be the point? He probably did it because he's evil."

"Yea, I guess you're right well see you tomorrow Knuckles."

"K, later Rouge."

That night, everyone pondered on why Eggman would destroy their things. They knew he was evil and all, but he had never done anything relatively bad on Christmas. Christmas was a day when everyone agreed to hold off on the fighting because it was meant to be a peaceful holiday. What they didn't know was things weren't as they seem.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Amy awoke to the sound of Christmas bells ringing, and realized it was Christmas morning. Her mood quickly dropped at the recollection of yesterday's events.

"I can't believe we're going to have a Christmas without presents!"

Her mood only darkened as she looked at her living room, still destroyed and strewn with broken decorations. She hadn't had time to clean any of it last night because she had been so tired.

"You know what, I'm not going to let Eggman ruin my Christmas. I'm going to wear my outfit and enjoy myself!"

With a huff, she put on the red Christmas dress she picked especially for this day, put on a new pair of red snow boots with a red headband. Her cheeks were rosy and as she looked at herself in the mirror she couldn't help but beam.

"I wonder if Sonic will notice me in this?"

As she stepped outside, her mood brightened. All around her a layer of snow had covered the ground and tree branches, giving off what a real winter wonderland would look like. Children covered from head to toe in coats and jackets were laughing and sledding down the gently rolling hills. In a neighbor's yard a family was building a snowman. The two children giggled as they put the face upside down on the head, and squealed in delight as their parents snuck up on them and tickled them on their sides.

"Maybe there's more to Christmas then just presents; maybe the true meaning of Christmas is just being with your friends."

--Flash to the park—

"Hey, everyone!" Amy called as she ran to meet up with the gang.

Everyone was there and looking as happy as she had seen them in a long time. Vector, Espio, and Charmy were all wearing red scarves, each decorated in there own way. Vector's had a set of music notes running along it which if you knew how to read music, played Jingle Bells. Espio's held an elegant and very detailed design. It was an abstract of life, showing highly detailed snowflakes, and every kind of animal you could think of. Charmy's was a simpler scarf, showing different Christmas ornaments. Sonic only had a dark blue jacket, earmuffs, and his usual running sneakers, yet Amy still seemed to swoon at his characteristic grin at her; she would never tire of that grin. Vanilla and Cream were dressed in matching snow outfits but in different shades of color; while Cream's was a light brown, Vanilla's was a darker shade of brown with hints of a light pink. Both rabbit's ears were elegantly flowing down their back, giving them a sort of radiant beauty that both Vector nor Tails could ignore. Tail's was wearing white earmuffs, a matching scarf, and an orange jacket. Rouge was dressed in a white Christmas suit that resembled her usual outfit. She wore white boots and a nice pendant in the shape of a Christmas tree. The effect it had on her made her beautiful in an angelic sort of way, and Amy noticed that the effect hadn't passed Knuckles' eyes either. She saw that the red echidna had to use all of his willpower to keep from glancing at her too often. He himself was wearing a green scarf and his usual running shoes; he didn't really need to cover up because he was used to this sort of weather on Angel Island. Everyone seemed to be there, except for one particular hedgehog…

"Where's Shadow?" Amy asked.

Then a flash of light shined and out stepped Shadow himself, wearing nothing except a scarf that was worn and had more than a few moth holes in it.

"Shadow!" Amy cried out, "Do you want me to lend you a scarf? I have plenty at home."

"No thank you; I want to wear this scarf." Shadow replied.

"But why? It's all worn and has holes in it."

"I don't mind. I like this one."

"Where'd you get it?" Charmy asked.

"Maria made it for me. A long time ago back at the Ark." Shadow seemed to grow sad at the thought of his old friend. He picked up the edge of the scarf, and at the end you could see a small sowing of words: _Made by Maria Robotnik, for Shadow: My best friend._

The others looked at Shadow in sympathy; they knew how much he blamed himself for not being able to save her.

"Hey, pal, it wasn't your fault. You know that right?" Sonic said.

Shadow gave a weak nod of his head then looked up at all of them.

"Can I take you guys somewhere?" He asked.

The others looked at him quizzically. Where on earth would Shadow want to go?

"Um, where are we going to go?" Tails asked.

"Over there." Shadow pointed at a steeple with a cross standing proud and tall at the top.

"You mean to a church?" Knuckles asked.

Shadow nodded his head, "Maria had always wanted to visit one."

The others smiled at their friend.

"Of course we'll go; right guys?" Amy said.

The others gave nods and agreements as replies and they headed off to the church.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The gang opened the large doors of the church. On each side of the walls there were glass windows, containing pictures of bible scenes. If you put them all together, they showed the story of the Bible. Everyone gaped in awe of the large church. Above them, the ceiling held a skylight shining a large cross on the marble floor with the sun's rays. Some families from the neighborhood were there, either to show there kids the story or to pray for lost family members. At stepping in the church, everyone felt a sudden peace overcome them. Everyone also noticed the peace of Shadow as he stepped onto the chapel where a Jesus in a white robe was engraved in the glass window.

"Maria would have loved it here," Shadow started, "She had told me that if we ever came to this planet she'd want to visit this place because it always gave people…hope." At this his voice cracked and he turned away from the others.

"Hey," Espio said, laying a hand on his shoulder, "She would have been proud of you Shadow, and remember that she's always with you in here." Espio patted the place where his heart lay.

Shadow nodded and slapped his friend on the shoulder, "Thank you, friend."

Everyone stayed in there a bit longer then headed back to the park to celebrate the joyous time. The sun was beginning to set so they gathered wood and started a fire. Everyone drank hot chocolate and talked about all that had happened that year, laughing at the good and silly times. Suddenly, they heard bells ringing.

"Is it Santa?" Cream and Charmy asked.

The others looked at each other in puzzlement. No one had arranged for someone to come, so who was coming?

"HOHOHOHO, why hello my old nemesis! Isn't it a fine Christmas?"

To everyone's surprise, Eggman stepped out of the slay.

"Eggman! How dare you show your face around here after what you did to our things!" Amy shouted in anger. She began to reach for her hammer.

"Wait, my feisty foe; you see things are not what they seem." He replied.

"Oh yea? And why should we believe anything you say?" said Vector.

"Just let me explain and everything will soon be clear." He said beginning to go into a flashback…

--Flashback to Eggman's hideout—

"I've done it, hohohoho!" Eggman shouted in glee.

"Done what, Dr.?" Bokum asked.

"I've created a second me! Hohohoho!" Eggman threw off the flap covering the robot he had recently invented. It looked like it could have been Eggman's brother taking a nap.

"Why did you create a second you?" Bokum began to poke the side of the Eggman robot.

"Oh, one with such a small brain as yours couldn't begin to comprehend it, but I will try to explain why as simply as I can."

"Humph!" said Bokum, a bit insulted at Eggman's remark.

"You see, Bokum, every year around the holiday's it's only you and me. Normally, I wouldn't mind so much any other time of the year because we make it up by reeking havoc on the world, but when the holiday's come it's only us which as you can imagine for a genius like me can get very lonely when you don't have any family left to celebrate it with."

"So you made a second you to celebrate the holidays with?" Bokum asked.

"Precisely." Eggman replied. With this said he flipped the on switch to the robot and it opened its eyes.

"Come with me my robotic brother; if we start now we'll have everything ready for Christmas tomorrow."

--End of flashback—

Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"How does that explain what happened to our Christmas things yesterday?"

"Yea." Everyone repeated.

"Well, you see what happened was I hadn't taken into mind that my robot self didn't know about our truce during the holidays. So when I wasn't aware of it he went and reeked havoc on all that you had of Christmas in hopes of ruining your holiday." Explained Eggman.

The others pondered this. He seemed to be telling the truth, and the story made sense.

"But what about the hair we found at Amy's house? It looked and SMELLED exactly like yours." Charmy said.

"Like I said, my robotic self looked a lot like me which means he had the same hair I had." Eggman continued, "But if you need some more convincing, I have a surprise for all of you."

Eggman turned to the slay, and pulled out a giant sack.

"Now lets see," said Eggman, digging into the sack, "This is too Tails from Cream."

He handed Tails a wrapped package. Tails looked at Cream who just shrugged her shoulders, symboling it couldn't hurt to open it. He gently tore off the paper and pulled out a very rare mechanical part that he had been looking for for months. He heard Cream gasp.

"What's wrong, Cream?" Tails asked.

"That's the exact gift I had bought you before it was destroyed." She replied.

"Yes, well, I looked up the original gifts you bought for your friends and got them. It was the least I could do since my robotic self caused all this." Eggman said sheepishly. He turned to head off back to his hideout.

"Hey, Eggman, why don't you celebrate with us." Sonic asked.

"R-really? You'd let me celebrate the holidays with you?"

"Why not? You said you needed company on the holidays."

Contented, Eggman got a mug of hot chocolate and sat down on a log near the fire as he watched his nemesis's unwrap their original presents that there friends had gotten them. Everyone was happy with what they had gotten, but everyone also agreed that even if they hadn't gotten their presents, it would have been a good Christmas after all for they learned that Christmas wasn't about decorations or presents, it was just about being together with your friends and family. While everyone was admiring what they had gotten and sitting around the fire, Knuckles expectantly looked around for someone in particular. He had gotten a gift from all of his friends except for the bat who had told him she had a surprise for him.

"Where could Rouge be?" Knuckles wondered out loud leaning against a tree.

"Right here, handsome."

Knuckles jumped; behind the tree, Rouge beckoned him to come. He walked over, wandering if this was some trick. Even if it was, he couldn't help but notice how amazing she looked in her Christmas outfit. _She's beautiful. _He thought, and then quickly shook the thought from his head when he felt his cheeks flush. He knew it would be practically invisible on his already red face, but he knew that Rouge would be able to spot it since she knew him so well.

"So what is this special surprise you have for me Rouge?" Knuckles asked hesitantly.

Rouge simply smiled and scooted a step closer. Knuckles felt his chest tighten just like before on Angel Island. Her eyes, like little emeralds that sparkled under the night sky, once again captured him.

"Why are you doing this?" he whispered, barely able to get a breath out, she was so close.

Rouge pointed up and that's when he saw it, a mistletoe hanging from one of the branches. So this was her gift, he should have been angry but he was actually okay with it. Did he want to kiss Rouge? That's like asking if he was the guardian of the Master Emerald. He could feel her arms snake around his neck as she pressed him up against the tree in a kiss. He wasn't sure what to do at first, for he wasn't very experienced, but he eventually got the hang of it and put his arms around her waist. Once they separated, they stayed with their arms wrapped around each other, her head against his chest.

"You know what, Rouge?"

"Hmm?" she said dreamily.

"This could be the best Christmas ever." He smiled as he saw the edges of her mouth curl in a grin.

"Most definitely." She replied and kissed him once more.

This was BY FAR the best Christmas ever, and as everyone looked up into the night sky, they dreamed of all that could happen in the next year. New dreams could be dreamt and new adventures to be had, but they all knew that so long as they stayed together, nothing could ever go wrong that they wouldn't be able to fix.

----------------- Author's Note---------------------

I just wanted to thank everyone who gave me reviews and advice on how to finish my story. This is my first story so you can imagine how everyone's reviews helped me. There are plenty of amazing writers in here, and I'm glad I've found this website. God bless you guys!


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